Usain Bolt’s e-scooter rental company isn’t bolting around anymore

Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

Bolt Mobility electric scooters are not moving. The dockless rental company co-founded by sprinter Usain Bolt has abruptly shut down in many US cities, even ghosting some city officials.

According to the report, Bolt stopped operations in many US cities, including Portland, Oregon, Burlington, Vermont, South Burlington, Vermont, Winooski, Vermont, Richmond, California, and Virginia. We contacted Bolt through the company's online contact form, but they have not responded.

A number of e-scooters and e- bikes were rendered useless by the sudden disappearance of Bolt. Bolt was growing in the past few years and had acquired e-scooter company Ojo last year which had merged with another personal mobility rental company.

Image: Umar Shakir / The Verge

The Bolt mobility app is still online, but my account from last year is no longer working. There are pop-ups in the app that say the app is no longer available in some cities. All rentals in Miami have been disabled due to the City of Miami's decision. We're sorry for the hassle this causes. The customer service chat doesn't show a screen anymore.

Bolt's e-scooters have vanished from the map. Bolt was the most unreliable option compared to others. I was only able to ride one of Bolt's yellow "chariot" scooters that have you standing side by side but separated by a divider. The screen was nice, but the scooters were hard to open. It is difficult to build a scooter rental industry that is built to last.